Tribological properties of plasma sprayed zircon-alumina powder mixture with and without laser re-melting

ABSTRACT

This investigation focusses on the wear mechanism of as-sprayed and laser treated mullite based coatings, produced by plasma spraying, under sliding wear condition. First, an alumina powder and zircon sand mixture was plasma sprayed to produce a mullite coating. Selected as-sprayed coatings were subsequently laser treated. The tribological performances of both as-sprayed and laser re-melted coatings were assessed using a pin-on-disc wear apparatus. Hardened steel and WC-Co balls served as rubbing counterparts. A plasma sprayed alumina coating was used for bench marking purposes. Plastic deformation was the dominant wear mechanism under low load-low speed condition for both as-sprayed and laser treated coatings. However, at higher loads and speeds the coatings were found to undergo micro-fracture followed by pulverisation. Wear resistance of the coatings improved following laser treatment.

KEYWORDS:

• Ceramics
• coatings
• laser annealing
• wear
• plasma spray
• hardness
• porosity
• pin-on-disc

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.